Dispensing device



4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 28, 1948. 1.. STEINER I DISPENSING DEVICE Filed May 16, 1946 a W m .n N 5 8 r a w 0 Q3 W mm E. Q /m m .|.li! mm "3 x QR Q g g m M Ne m m w v m k .1 W ow F m W Filed May 16; 1946 Dec. 28, 1948. STEINER 2,457,187

DISPENSING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Y L ouis St emez" A 77' ORNE Y Dec. 28, 1948. L. STEINER DISPENSING DEVI-CE Filed May 16, 1946 4 Shets-Shee-t 3 'umllhw IENTOR. Louis Steiner B ATTORNEY Dec. 28, 1948. STEINER msrnnsme DEVICE 1 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 16, 1946 mmmm L uz's Steiner- ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 28, 1948 UNITED PATENT OFFICE h sei er. .lipkaw Park, -;.,.,ass nt i Mills Industries, Incorporated; a corporation of Illinois Appliance May it, 1946, Sriai No. 6711135 9 Claims.

This invention relates to dispensing devices. It is particularly directed to a machine for vendin cigarettes.

An object of this invention is to provide in a machine of the character described highly improved means for dispensing one or more pen nies in change each time a package of cigarettes is dispensed.

Yet a further object of this invention is to provide in a machine of the character described an improved change maker which may be easily adjusted and converted to dispense either one or more pennies in change each time a package is dispensed.

, In prior dispensing machines, it has been difficult to restock the machine with cigarettes, with packets of matches, and with pennies for change. it is therefore a further object of this invention to provide in a machine of the character de-' scribedcigarette chutes, match chutes in front of and in alignment with the cigarette chutes,

and penny chutes in front of and in between the match chutes. With such arrangement the cigarette chutes, the match chutes, and the penny chutes may be restocked from the front readily.

sun another object or; this invention'is" to'provide in a machine of the character described, a penny changer and means to easily adjust and convert the penny changer to give either one penny, two pennies, three pennies, or more change each time a packaged cigarettes is dis"- pen'sed. I v I Still a further object of this invention is to provide a dispensing machine'of the character described comprising a plurality of main chutes side by' side, an auxiliary chute in front of each main chute, and a penny chute disposed in front of and between each pair of auxiliary'chutes'; v

A still further object of this invention is to provide in a machine of the character described, means for transferring an auxiliary article from an" auxiliary chute to a main chute and at the same time dispense a main article and an auxili'ary article from the'main' chute, and means for furthermore dispensing a predetermined" number of penniesfr'om the penny chute; each time an article is dispensed from the main chute.

Still a further object of this invention is' to provide a strong, rugged and compact machine of the character described which shall be'r'elatively' inexpensive to manufacture, smooth and positive in' operation; and yet practical andeffici'ent to'ah'igh degree in use. I c I (7 Other objects of this inventionwillin'partbe obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out. w

The invention accordingly consists inthe'fea t'ur'es o'f-constiuction; combinationsof elements, and arrangement of parts wh'ienwm be exemplified in' the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope of applicatiodwill be'in dicated'in the f-ollowing claiiiisz I In the accompanying drawing, which is shown various possible illustrative embodiments of this invention, I

I Fig. 1 is apartial elevational cross-sectional view through a machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectionalview taken substan; tially on line 2 --2 of Fig. land also showing" in cross' section a support for a coin tube, and illustrating a topview of a dispensing bar; y Fig. 3' is a cross-sectional view taken on line 3"-3 of Fig. 2; v

Fig. l is a cross-sectional view taken on line of Fig. 2 and showing the penny changer arranged to give one penny change;

7 Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 5' '5 "of Fig. 4;

Fig'. (i is a cross-sectional view taken on line ii" 5 of Fig.5;

Fig. 7 is" a partial view similar to Fig- 1 but showing the penny chute arranged to give two pennies change;

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of a penny chan e slider constructed forgiving two pennies change;

Fig. 9 is aside el'evational' view of the reciprocator' for the slider shown in Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional View taken on line In a-oer Fig. 3

Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. Zbut showing a slider constructed for giving three" pennies change; and I H p I Fig. l'2 is a viewsimilar t Fig. 11 but howi g a slider construction arranged to give four penme change. I V

I Referringnow in detail to the drawing, Ill designatesja dispensing machine embodyin the invention; The same comprises a front wall ll. Within the casing isa' horizontal wall 12 formed with an upwardly extending front flange 13 spaced from the front wall ll'. Attached to flange 53 is a ve'rtical wall M disposed inside offlfront wall it. Flange l3" walls M and I' l are formed with registering openings 85' for the purpose hereinafter appearing. The bottom wall [2 isformed witha plurality of longitudinal slots l 'l e xtending from front to rear. Said bottom Wall is alsoformed with a plurality of openings 118 locatedbetweenthe slots it. Theopenings it} are also located between the front ends of the'slots and the flange l3. The openings iii are large enoughto'permit a coin such as a penny to fall' therethrough. Said bottom Wall I2 is furth'ermore formed at each opening E8 with'a downwardly and forwardly inclined guide 19 toreturn coins falling through said opening to a change retrieving chamber.

V Mounted on'the bottom wall it are a plurality of parallel chutes 22 disposed side by side and parallel to the front wall of the casing and" each comprising'afrontchamber 23"a'nd a rear chainb'er 2 3; In the front chamber are the main-am cles 25, such as packages of cigarettes, and in the rear chambers are reserve articles 25, such as packages of cigarettes. Any suitable mechanism 25 may be provided to cause the articles 25 in the reserve chamber 24 to be transferred to the main chamber 23 when articles in the main chamber are dispensed to a predetermined extent. Such mechanism is described and claimed in; my copending application Serial No. 670,134, filed on the 16th day of May, 1946.

In front of each chute 22 and aligned therewith is a match chute 30. Slidably mounted beneath each of the aligned chutes 22, 30 is a dispensing bar 32. The dispensing bar is so constructed that when it is pulled forwardly by the customer, the bottommost book of matches 33 from the match chute 35 will drop thereon, and when the bar. is retracted, said packet of matches will be transferred to the lower end of the main chamber 23. When the bar is pulled forwardly, again, the transferred packet of matches and the lowermost package of cigarettes will drop behind the bar, so that the next time the bar is retracted, a package of cigarettes and a packet of matches is dispensed. The construction for this structure is claimed in my co-pending application Serial No. 670,136, filed May 16th, 1946.

More specifically, each bar 32 comprises a block portion 35 provided with a downwardly extending hook 36 projecting through one of the slots I I. At the top of block portion 35 is a depressed surface 31 and a shoulder 38 is formed at one end of said depressed surface. Extending from block 35 is an elongated handle 39 passing through the openings 55 and formed with a finger engaging hook or handle 40 disposed exteriorly of the casing. When the bar is pulled forwardly by the customer (each operation may be predicated upon the deposit of predetermined coins into the machine), the lowermost packet of matches in chute 35 drops onto the recessed surface 3'3 in engagement with the shoulder 38. Suitable spring means may be provided for retracting the bar upon releasing the latter. Upon retracting the bar, the lowermost package 25 resting on the wall I2 is dispensed rearwardly by the abutting end of the bar 32 and simultaneously the packet of matches 53 is transferred to chute 23 beneath the next package in the column. When the bar 52 is pulled forwardly, the transferred packet of matches and the overlying package of cigarettes drop behind the rear end of bar to the wall l2. The next time the bar is retracted, a packet of matches and a package of cigarettes are simultaneously dispensed rearwardly by the abutting end of bar 32, to drop into a suitable chamber from where the customer may take them.

Hinged between each match chute and cigarette chute is a downwardly suspended gate 42 to prevent transferred matches from being drawn back into the match chute. Each bar 32 is provided with a longitudinal spine portion 45 from the rear end of which extends a vertical wall 45 adapted to engage the packages of cigarettes and packets package of cigarettes is dispensed. Thus if the As will machine is so arranged that a bar 32 may be pulled upon depositing 20 in the machine and the cigarettes only cost 18, the arrangement would be to return two pennies each time a package of cigarettes is sold.

Each support 50 comprises a horizontal portion 55 resting on the bottom wall l2. Each support 55 may be fixed to the bottom wall by means of suitable fastening means 55a located at the corners thereof. It is formed at its undersurface with a longitudinal through slot 56. The through slot 55 has an intermediate enlarged portion 5?, the rear half of which overlies opening I8 and the front half of which-overlies bottom wall [2, forwardly of opening [8 and beneath tube 5i. The enlarged slot opening 5lis sufficiently wide for a coin 52 to drop into the forward part thereof, to be carried, by means hereinafter explained, to the rear portion thereof, so as to drop through the opening !8. Member 55 is provided at its underside with a surface 59 contacting wall l2 and with a raised undersurface 6B spaced above bottom wall l2 substantially by the thickness of a coin 52. The through slot 56 extends to the undersurface 65. The undersurface 68 terminates as at 5! short of the front end 62 of support 50. Said surface 55 also terminates short of the rear end of said support 55.

Said support 55 is formed with a channel shaped vertical upstanding portion 65 projecting upwardly from the horizontal portion 55 and comprising side flanges 55 and a front wall 5?. The horizontal portion 55 is formed with a circular through opening 68 through which the tube 5i projects, said opening 58 communicating with the enlarged opening 51 at the underside of wall 55. The horizontal portion 55 is furthermore formed in its upper surface with a shallow recess 59 located rearwardly of opening 68.

Mounted on the horizontal portion 55 and telescoped within channel 55 and surrounding the lower end of tube 5! is an inner channel member 10. The lower end of the tube 5| is fixed to the flanges H of the channel. The front wall 6'! of the channel-shaped member 55 is formed with a central vertical slot 12 and with a pair of parallel slots 73 on opposite sides thereof. Extending through slots i3 and screwed to the web M of channel member 15 are apair of screws 15. When the screws 15 are loosened, channel Hi together with tube 5i may be raised or lowered. At the upper edge 1'6 of web M is a notch 11. Attached to the front wall or web M is a pivot pin 85 located above the notch ll. Rotatably mounted on the pivot is a member 8! formed with four arms 82, 83, 84, and 5. Said arms are radial and at 90 from one another. The arm 82 is shortest and in the position shown in Fig. 3 engages in notch 11 contacting the bottom of the notch; arm 83 is longer than arm 82 by substantially the thickness of one of the coins; arm 84 is longer than arm 33 by substantially the thickness of one coin; and arm 85 is longer than arm 84 likewise by the thickness of one coin 52. Upon loosening the screw 75, member 70 together with its tube 5! may be raised and then member 8! may be rotated to any desired position so that one of the arms 82, 85, 84 or 85 will engage the notchi'l. When one coin is to be given as change, arm 82 is within notch if; when two coins are to be given in change, arm 83 is within the notch; when three coins are to be given in change, arm 84 is within said notch; and when four coins are to be given in change, arm 85 is within the notch. When arm 82 is within notch 11, the lower end of tube 5| is just above the level of the undersurface of recess 60.

Slidably mounted on the bottom wall 12 and within recess 60 is a gate 90. Said gate comprises a bottom wall 91 contacting the upper surface of the bottom wall [2 and of less length than the slot Gil. Extending upwardly from one side of the bottom wall Si is a vertical flange 92 which is received in a vertical slot 93 formed in member 56 and communicating with one longitudinal edge of slot Bil as seen in Fig. 2. The slot 93 may extend through the entire length of wall 55 of member 53. The bottom wall 9! extends laterally beyond member 56 and extending upwardly therefrom, is a web portion 94 from which there extends a horizontal flange 95 terminating short of one edge of member 50. The bottom wall SM is formed with a hole 56 adapted to receive one of the coins 52.

Means is provided to slide the gate member 90 forwardly to bring opening 96 in alignment with the tube 5i so that a coin 52 will drop into said opening and rest on the bottom wall l2.

Means is also provided to retract gate member at to the position shown in Fig. l to permit the coin in opening 96 to be transferred to opening l8 so that it will drop through said opening to a change chamber.

The means for reciprocating the gate 9i] is controlled by operation of the dispensing bar 32. Said means comprises a slide I comprising a horizontal longitudinal intermediate portion ill! which passes through the channel formed by walls 9!, 94 and 95 of the gate. Extending upwardly from the front end of portion Ill!) is a projection I82 which is adapted to engage the forward edge of flange 95. Projecting upwardly from the rear end of portion It! is a projection Hi3 which is adapted to project above the rear end of flange $5. The offset portion 41 of the dispensing bar 32 extends between the projections I02, I03, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. When the bar 32 is in its normal rear position, said projection ll contacts the upstanding arm I03 thereby retaining the gate in its rearward position with the Opening 96 above opening I8. When the proper coins are inserted in the machine and the bar 32 is pulled forwardly by the customer, projection 4'] will move forwardly. On one side of wall 46 is an enlargement of thickened portion 45a. When the bar 32 is moved forwardly, said thickened portion 46a will strike arm I63, thereby moving the gate forwardly to a position where the opening 98 will register with the tube 51 so that a coin will drop therein. When the dispensing bar is retracted or moves rearwardly again, projection 41 will strike arm N33 to again move the gate to a position where the coin is transferred to a position above opening l8 so that it will drop through said opening. It will thus be noted that there is a lost motion between the dispensing bar and the gate 90.

Means is provided to prevent the dispensing bar from being retracted unless it is pulled forwardly to its fullest extent. To this end, there is mounted on top of wall 55 and over the recess 69, a plate H0 which may be screwed to wall 55 by means of a plurality of screws Ill. Mounted on said plate is a pivot pin H2. Pivoted thereto is a pawl H3. The pawl H3 is connected to a fixed post M4 on said plate by a coil tension spring H5. The spring H tends to bring the pawl to normal position as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing. On the dispensing bar is a longitudinal rack portion I 5 which rotates the pawl in a clockwise direction when the dispensing bar is pulled. If the dispensing bar is not fully pulled, the pawl H3 will prevent the bar from being retracted. However, when the rack H 6 fully passes the pawl, the pawl will be swung by the spring H5 in a counterclockwise direction, and then the dispensing bar can be retracted causing the pawl to be rotated in a counterclockwise direction against the tension of spring I I5.

In Figs. 8 and 10 there is shown a gate a which is to be used when it is desired to give'two coins in change instead of one coin. As stated before, when the machine is to be converted for giving two coins in change, the control member 81 is rotated to lift the coin tube by the height of one coin and to bring arm 83 into notch '11. In addition, gate 98 is replaced by the gate 96a. The

gate 90a differs from gate 98 in that its bottom wall am is formed with a longitudinal raised channel portion lit, the height of which rises above the bottom wall by the height of one coin. In the bottom wall Qia is an opening 96a for the coins. By raising the tube, its lower end Will be spaced above the bottom wall l2 by the thickness of two coins. Thus, two coins will enter opening 96a and when the gate is moved, these two coins are engaged by the bottom wall 91a and the raised portion I25 to transfer two coins to drop through opening Hi.

In Fig. 11 is shown a gate 90b which differs from gate 90a in that it has a raised portion 126a which is higher than portion I20 by the thickness of an additional coin. To dispense three pennies, control member 8| is moved to a position to bring arm 84 into the notch 11. Three pennies will then enter the opening 9th in gate member 9812 and three pennies will hence be transferred to above the opening 18 to drop therethrough.

In Fig. 12 there is shown a gate 98c which is employed when it is desired to give four coins in change- Gate 950 differs from gate 902) in that it has a central longitudinal raised portion [20b dis posed at opposite sides of its opening 95c higher than the portions l20a of Fig, 11... The control member 8| is adjusted to bring arm 85 into the notch 11. The tube is thus raised to permit four coins to drop into the opening 96c. When the gate is retracted, said four coins will be retracted to a position above opening I8 and will drop therethrough.

Any suitable coin controlled means may be provided to prevent pulling of the dispensingbar 32 unless a predetermined number of coins are inserted into the machine, as for example as shown and described in my Patent No. 2,207,902. Included in such mechanism is a horizontal transverse bar 53% engaged by the hooks 36 of the various dispensing bars. The rod I30 may be supported on pivot arms 53! which are locked against movement by mechanism releasable upon insertion into'the machine of the proper coins.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which the several objects of this invention are achieved, and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

- As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not ina limiting sense.

Having thus described my'i'nventionl claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent: 1. In a vending machine, a casing having a front wall, a vertical chamber for articles to be dispensed, a vertical chamber in front of the first chamber and aligned therewith for auxiliary articles to be dispensed, a reciprocating dispening bar beneath said chambers for dispensing articles from both chambers, said bar extending through said front wall, a coin return tube in front of and to one side of the second chamber, and means to dispense coins from said tube upon reciprocating said bar. i

2. In a vending machine, a casing having a front wall, a pair of vertical chambers side by side adapted to contain main articles to be dispensed, a chamber in front of each of the first chambers, and aligned therewith, and adapted to contain auxiliary articles to be dispensed, a dispensing reciprocating bar beneath each main chamber and its auxiliary chamber, said bars being horizontal and parallel to one another and extending through said front wall, a coin tube disposed in front of and between said auxiliary chambers, and means operable upon reciprocation of one of said bars to return at least one coin from the coin tube each time said bar is reciprocated.

3. In a dispensing machine, a plurality of vertical main chambers within the machine disposed side by side, an auxiliary chamber in front of and aligned with each main member, a coin tube in front of and between each pair of adjacent auxiliary chambers, means to dispense articles from said main and auxiliary chambers, and slidable means controlled by the last means said slidable means being adapted to support coins in said tube while in one position, to receive the lowermost coin in another position and to dispense said coins when moved to said first position;

4. In a dispensing device, a casing having a front wall, a plurality of vertical chambers within the casing disposed side by side, parallel to and equally spaced rearwardly from said front wall, a bar mounted for reciprocation beneath each chamber, said bars being perpendicular to said front wall, said front wall having openings through which said bars project, coin tubes disposed between said chambers and said front Wall, means on said bars to dispense articles from said .chambers, means controlled by said bars to dispense coins from said tubes, each tube being located between a pair of adjacent chambers, and being operable by the bar for one of said pair of chambers, a horizontal fixed wall within said casing, to slidably support said bars, the lower end of said tubes being spaced above said bottom wall, and means to adjust the height of the lower end of said tubes relative to said bottom wall.

5. In a dispensing device, a horizontal wall, a support mounted thereon, a verticle tube adjustably mounted on said support, said support being formed with an Opening, said tube projecting downwardly through said opening, a gate slidably mounted on said horizontal wall in a fixed horizontal plane beneath said support, said gate being free of said tube and having provided therein an opening to receive a coin from said tube, and said horizontal wall being formed with an opening offset with respectto said tube, and means for reciprocating said gate whereby to transfer coins deposited therein to the opening in the horizontal wall.

6. In a vending machine, a horizontal wall, a

; support fixed thereto, said horizontal wall being formed with an opening, a vertical coin tube, means to fix said coin tube to said support in a plurality of vertical adjusted positions, the opening in said horizontal wall being offset with respect to said tube, a gate slidably mounted on said horizontalwall in a fixed horizontal plane beneath said support, said gate being free of said tube and having provided therein an opening adapted in one position to receive a coin from said tube, and in another position to let said coin drop through said opening in said horizontal wall.

7. In a vendin machine, a horizontal wall, a support fixed thereto, said horizontal wall being formed with an opening, a vertical coin tube, means to fix said coin tube to said support in a plurality of vertical adjusted positions, the opening in said horizontal wall being offset with respect to said tube, a gate slidably mounted on said horizontal wall in a fixed horizontal plane beneath said support, said gate being free of said tube and having provided therein an opening adapted in one position to receive a coin from said tube, and in another position to let said coin drop through said opening in said horizontal wall, and means to reciprocate said gate.

8. In a vending machine, a horizontal wall, a support fixed thereto, said horizontal wall being formed with an opening, a vertical coin tube, means to fix said coin tubeto said support in a plurality of vertical adjusted positions, the opening in said horizontal wall being offset with respect to said tube, a gate slidably mounted on said horizontal wall in a fixed horizontal plane beneath said support, said gate being free of said tube and having provided therein an opening adapted in one position to receive a coin from said tube, and in another position to let said coin drop through said opening in said horizontal wall, and means to reciprocate said gate, said means including a slide assembled with said gate and being formed with an upwardly extending projection, a dispensing bar mounted on said horizontal wall for reciprocation, said dispensing bar having spaced lugs located at opposite sides of said projection, whereby upon pulling said dispensing bar in one direction, one of said lugs will contact said projection to move said gate in one direction, and when said dispensing bar is moved in an opposite direction, the other lug will engage said projection to move said gate in saidother direction.

9. In a vending machine, a casing having a front wall, a vertical article holding chamber within the casing and spaced from said wall, a vertical auxiliary article holding chamber disposed between said first chamber and said wall, said second-chamber being aligned with said first chamber,- a coin tube disposed between said auxiliary chamber and said front wall, said coin tube being offset with respect to said auxiliary chamber, means to dispense articles from said chambers and means controlled by said last mentioned means for dispensing coins from the coin tube.

LOUIS STEINER.

itnrnannoss CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 973,939 Harris Oct. 25, 1910 1,801,796 Chalmers Apr. 21, 1931 1,898,192 Larsen Feb. 21, 1933 2,085,153 Goretta June'29,1937 

